Mark Zuckerberg

Responding to the growing threat of malware, Facebook on Wednesday announced a partnership with security giant McAfee that will encourage users to sign up for virus protection. The social network, which says it has 350 million users, has also developed a system with McAfee to scan Facebook messages for hidden malware.

If a threat is detected from a user, Facebook will be able to lock out that user's account until a free scan and clean program is run.

Good Timing?

In a not-uncommon development for the social-networking leader, Facebook's recently released privacy controls are leaving the company a bit red-faced. As a result of a new policy that by default makes users' profiles, photos and friends lists available on the web, almost 300 personal photos of founder Mark Zuckerberg became publicly available, a development that had gossip sites like Gawker yukking it up.

Yahoo Inc. will lean more heavily on Facebook's popularity as it tries to give people more reasons to stay on its Web site.

The expanded partnership announced Wednesday will enable Yahoo users with Facebook accounts to blend material from the two Web sites without having to leave one destination for the other.

For example, Yahoo users will be able to read the latest updates from their Facebook friends while they're still perusing Yahoo's site. On the flip side, personal material from Yahoo's site -- such as e-mail, movie reviews, and photos -- can be more easily shared on Facebook.

Facebook ha alcanzado un éxito rotundo a pesar de su compleja configuración de privacidad. Hoy mismo, el fundador de la compañía, Mark Zuckerberg, ha revelado que la empresa ha alcanzado los 350 millones de usuarios, la mayor red social de la historia de Internet. Es, más que nunca, una red global, que trasciende fronteras físicas e idiomáticas.

In an effort to improve privacy for its growing membership, Facebook announced Tuesday what it called a "simpler model for privacy control." Under the new rules, a user can decide if individual pieces of content should be available only to friends, to friends of those friends, or to everyone.

The controls include the ability to regulate every piece of content that a Facebook member creates or uploads. Because of the site's prominence in social networking -- and, increasingly, in business, e-commerce, politics and other areas -- its position on privacy could have a ripple effect.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is being bombarded this week with letters from all sides over his Net-neutrality proposals. The FCC is closing public comments on the chairman's proposals for new rules that would limit the abilities of Internet service providers and wireless providers to discriminate against certain uses on their networks.

In a one-two punch that targets Google and Twitter, Facebook is acquiring FriendFeed and has rolled out new search capabilities. With these moves, Facebook may be positioning itself as a social-media hub.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal is valuing the deal at $50 million.

Ninguna de las muchas prevenciones y dudas sobre la suerte de la información personal 'colgada' en Facebook ha derivado en una reducción de su popularidad. Todo lo contrario: ayer, el creador de la red social, Mark Zuckerberg, ha anunciado oficialmente en su blog que Facebook tiene 250 millones de usuarios registrados, un récord absoluto para la plataforma nacida en 2004.

How much is Facebook worth? A Russian investment firm appears to put it at $6.5 billion to $10 billion.

The investment group, Digital Sky Technologies, said Monday it will buy up to $100 million worth of Facebook shares from current and former employees. At the price the firm would pay, $14.77 per share, the Internet networking company would be worth about $6.5 billion.

In April, when Facebook announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Gideon Yu, the social network said it would look for a replacement "with public company experience." Facebook found what it was seeking in David Ebersman, a 15-year veteran of biotech pioneer Genentech.

"David [Ebersman] worked at one of the most innovative and respected [companies] in the world, so he brings a lot to the table when it comes to our efforts to build a lasting, important company," Facebook spokesman Larry Yu says of the appointment, announced on June 29.